Kaiser, Mary b. 13 Sep 1928 Collyer, Trego, Kansas, USA d. 25 Nov 2006 Lewistown, Fergus, Montana, USA: 1FAMILYTREE Genealogy

1928 - 2006 (78 years) Has 42 ancestors and 9 descendants in this family tree.

Personal Information | Event Map | All | PDF

Name	Kaiser, Mary
Born	13 Sep 1928	Collyer, Trego, Kansas, USA
Gender	Female
Family History Researcher	Mary Kaiser kept very good notes and newspaper clippings about the Schuster family. In 1984-1988 she wrote about many of her aunts and uncles, those notes have been entered under each persons "notes". Here in a letter to her niece, she tells the history of the Schuster family. May 7, 1988 Dearest Patty: Had a chance to get to town to do some photocopying . . . so here's a "Sch uster"' start, I wish that I had more time to write the stories as I did a bout Grandma's house. Names are okay, dates are a bore (but essential, I' ve found) and stories are fun. I also filled out a set of pedigree sheets for you. This can really get i nvolved for anyone who really does it well and with scrupulous accuracy, a nd I have tried to be accurate as I've copied. The typewritten family li st sheets I got from Fred Schusters wife, Gay who's delving into, Fo ur or five intermarried families from the Furstenthal area. Word has it s he started on file Ferdinand Schuster line and also Freddie Schuster's mot her Rosie Aschenbrenner (married to Uncle Frank Schuster, Mom's brother) a nd found so many families intermarried that she went into more families, a nd as a result the book she was hoping to get published is still in the pr ocess. Since Families keep adding, I doubt that she ever will get a bo ok accomplished. I dabbled in family sheets, but not living close to whe re family, or being able to visit frequently in Kansas…what I've done amounts to what it is... dabblin g. From what I can read, and here again lots I want to know, isn't translate d, the Schuster ancestors were originally from the Black Forest Regi on of the German Empire and moved to the village of Furstenthal in Bukowi na (Bucovina). Bucovina means "Beech Woods". Furstenthal was first settled at the bequest of Austrian Emperor Jose ph in 1803, German speaking settlers were originally from Pfalz, Hesse, a nd the Wertemberg Highlands, among others. The villages from which our ancestors came are located in the Black Fore st on the Bohemian Czech border. I find Baumgartners and Schuste rs in an account of Bucovina in April 1803, and listed with those who ca me from the area of the Bohemian Woods were names of some of the earlie st among them; Sebastian Baumgartner, Andreas Schuster and Franz Schuste r. By 1808 we also find among the immigrants from the Bohemian Forests; J osef, Ferdinand, Julius and Johann Baumgartner. With my very limited know ledge of German, it seems to say that our ancestors were craftsmen. I re ad accounts where some German Bukovina people come to the area because th ey were skilled salt miners, and Grandma Schuster did say there were sa lt mines nearby. (She gave me and also Rose a crucifix… rosary size ... s he said was obtained at a mission held at the salt mines.) There were poss ibly other mines, as one of the people with our ancestral names was a smel ter, and there are stampers listed in Furstenthal village census. I base my assumption that our people were craftsmen with information fr om a 1822 census lists and among the glassworkers in Furstenthal were Anton and Michael Gas chler, Franz and Jacob Schuster. Christoph Gaschler was a smelter. List ed under private handworkers and listed as cobblers were Johann and Micha el Schuster. As Village Justice, a Johann Baumgartner served from 18 59 to 1888. I found others serving equally as long, so this did not seem o ut of reason. Here again we have Families living in villages, each with their own fenc ed in yard withhouse, barn, well, etc, as in Russia and the Alsace. He re again are solely Catholic villages and villages of other faiths . . . a gain marriages to only ones of their own religion and "Komradschaffen" a nd from their own villages or ones of the same faith nearby. There w as a small exception to this. In both Franzfeld and Furstenthal lived oth er German speaking people who were Jewish. They stuck together and on t he fringes of the city (village). Jews married no one of another Fai th or Culture. They were the moneychangers who had the taverns that on ly men frequented; they traded in grain and merchandise ... and sometim es in illegality. Jews and Catholics did not associate with one anothe r, the Jews being 1ooked down upon here, as in Russia. To this there w as one exception . . . when their children were needed to make up the scho ol rolls to have enough students needed to receive money from the governme nt. (This was given without interference from the government). Village life apparently follows the European way. Cattle were herded in to the woods to graze every day by the cowherd who was paid by an assessme nt of all the villagers. (Remember in the story of Heidi where Peter, t he goat-herd took the goats up on the mountain to graze each morning and b rought them back at milking time?) Geese were tended to by goosegirls in m uch the same way. Theresa did not say whether they had a swineherd or no t, but one was common in many accounts. I don't know if all the little Furstenthalers went to school, but the litt le Schusters did by the time they were six, both boys and girls. The gove rnment gave money to the villages, provided there was an enrollme nt of 40 pupils for three consecutive years ... this "might" have be en an inducement to have ala available students in school. The governme nt did not specify the curricula and each taught in their own language a nd according to their own culture. They studied usually under the villa ge priest and a schoolmaster trained for such. Many times the church a nd school were the same building ... i.e. a room set aside in the chur ch or eventually added on to, and in later years a building nearby. In ad dition to what we know as the 3 R's, they started to study Latin in the fi rst grade ... Latin was the language of the Catholic Church's Mass. Relig ion was the 4th of the "R's", but first in the order of importance. There sia said learning English reading was comparatively easy for her as she 'd learned to learn to read and write the German Gothic Script and the Lat in Roman letters. Boy! that's a tall order, as far as I'm concerned, f or six or seven year olds. In many ways, you could say their social life, too, revolved around the ch urch. Religious Holidays were the ones most celebrated. Lent was strict ly observed, Theresia said, with no meats and fasting every day for t he 40 days. We did not celebrate birthdays, nor was it customary f or us in Nick and Theresia's family to gather anywhere for Thanksgiving, I ndependence and Labor Days etc. These were days used for catch-up work be cause the whole family was home. We went to a Catholic School and were o ut of school on Holy Days, however no servile work was done on those days, In the yard, our Schuster family had a cow, chickens, pigs, etc. in the Eu ropean way. Their cow went out with the cowherd each morning and ba ck at night. Agricultural fields were outside of the village, as we ll as a large community garden. Theresia referred to thunder as "God's Po tato wagons" going across the sky, because thunder sounded like the pota to wagons coming into the village in the fall. There for winter feed f or the cattle, they planted corn (or cane-type crops) interspersed with pu mpkins. In, the fall they would gather the grains then bind the stalks a nd put the pumpkin under the feed "shocks". This they would feed the catt le over the winter. They found it surprising when they came to this count ry, that Americans ate cattle feed... referring to the pumpkins. Theres ia said the terrain was alot like Montana, but with the hills all cover ed with woods. Since the area was "woody" they did not use twists of str aw for household cookery. Weather was apparently cooler, as it was not the custom for our Schuste rs to build summer kitchens (as it was among the Kaiser people) so it probably wasn't somethi ng they did in the old country. Later photos of houses in Furstenthal al so show no little enclosed porch like affair around the main entry do or as was custom in South Russia, so I am guessing, the wind was not as hi gh and they had fewer flies. In both the Schuster and Kaiser's European c ultures, the front gate to the family home area ... a large one through wh ich to drive the stock, wagons, etc. usually had an ornate archway, the la rge gate was adorned', and a little side gate that just admitted people ne xt to this large one was also decorated. A rather aside from the sto ry is an oddity in toilets between my parents culture. The Kaiser toile ts were usually a deep pit with the toilet "shed" on top ... had maybe t wo holes, and a little lower one built on the side. When full, the shed w as moved. The Schuster toilet was a covered seat, one holer that sat fl at on the ground with a "trap door" in the back. Through this it was oft en cleaned out, along with the henhouses, hogs sheds, etc. (in the old cou ntry, each yard had it's "Mistplatz" . . . literally manure place.) Eventu ally this was all put on the fields and gardens. I doubt that this was le ft long in the buildings as it was Theresia's habit when I was growing u p, to clean the henhouses once a week, and this had to come from her "Upbr inging". The Ferdinand Schuster daughters raised good gardens ... Do you suppose th ey knew something, God given, that our generation, with it's commercial fe rtilizer, could learn something from? They were all scrupulously clean ho usekeepers. No bedbugs, lice, or dirty kitchen grease in their homes. I digressed there, I'm afraid. Grandpa Ferdinand was the last of his brot hers and sisters left in Austria, Grandma once said. He wanted to come wh en they did, but he was enlisted as a cobbler in the Austrian Army ... I t hink this was a little like the militia as in colonial days in America. M ilitary men drilled as a group in each of their villages in readiness f or whatever wartime action was asked, (or commanded) of them. He seem ed to be home, from Mom's stories, most of the early years of Ferdinand a nd Klara's marriage, Austria was not at war, and if it was, he most like ly cobbled for the army staying in the village. I would guess that he ca me from a line of cobblers, because the name Schuster means "One who mak es shoes or footwear (shoemaker.)" At any rate, he was afraid to apply f or passport out of Austria before his military time was up: There must ha ve been some unrest, (Mom said there was usually a lot of that ... with o ne ruler trying to gobble up another to fill his own coffers.) They final ly went to a Jew, who forged passports for the family for them to get o ut of the country. About the trip from Bucovina to Bremen, I have not hea rd anyone tell stories. Theresia said they had a little room on the sh ip and that most of them were very seasick, though Grandma Klara seem ed to be able to take care of the young family of seven aged from 13 yea rs to five months. . . Frank, Mary, Theresia, Barbara, Stephanie, Palus, a nd Jakob. They boarded the "Kaiser Whilhelm" on the 18th of June in Breme n, Germany, and arrived at Ellis Island on the 5th of July, 1904. (Interestingly: The Kaiser's came also on the "Kaiser Wilhelm", embarki ng at Bremen in 1907 and 1908.) Ships that other Kaiser arrived on.... (text handwritten, not legible) They came to Ellis because that was where the rest of Ferdinand's family a nd other Furstenthalers had settled. (Another interesting note: Both Kla ra and Ferdinand come from relatively small families as compared to lar ge families that were general norm in Europe. Klara had one brother, Anth on Baumgartner. Ferdinand's brothers were Frank and Joseph, and his sist er was Franziska (translated Frances) who married Franz Augustine. The bo ys had large families, but sister Franziska only had three children. O ne possible explanation: Many times small families were the result when o ne parent died, and the other did not remarry. In an old account about Ellis, I read where at first the European immigran ts settled like the European ancestors in small homes in Ellis and went out to the land to wo rk it, though I don't know if by the time our Schusters came this was t he case. An incident sticks in my mind…after Bob and I were married we 'd visited, along with Mom and Dad at some of the Aunt's houses in Elli s. Mom pointed out a gravel road straight south of Ellis, and at one tu rn in the road she said, "This is the first place we lived when we ca me to America." I asked, "You must not have lived there very long?" She sa id, "No, it wasn't very long after that, that her Daddy bought the place w here we called 'Grandma's House"'. I have no idea now where that place s he pointed out to me was. I don't know if they just lived there, rente d, or bought and sold. I don't know if this is all, but some of the land is described as: NE 1 /4 of Section 33 in TWP 13 S. Range 21 , W of the 6th PM. Listed in book BB, page 12 in the County of T rego, State of Kansas. This information was copied from a cutting ... and I will go into this wi th another tale. Upon Klara's death (at which time all her children were still heirs) the f amily decided that each of the others would sell their portion of the inte rest to the land to the youngest son, Engelbert. The others could keep th eir oil rights on the oil leases or sell them back. The inherited oil rig hts ended at the death of Klara's children. Theresia sold her's back to E ngelbert at the time Grandma Klara's estate was settled. So far as I kno w, there were no pumping wells on the property, though in 1939 a lessor br oke a 1935 lease agreement, and action to clear this was taken. Possib ly to lease to someone else, or to keep the rights in the estate. To get to Grandma's we went east on Highway 40, turned South on the ro ad by the Riga elevator and to the North of Grandma's was a place called " Round Mound". It was a raised round area of earth, a landmark, as it wer e. I can't remember just how for we went South before we turned West (f or a little tad of a ways), then the yelling started, "I see Grandma's hou se first." Stories aren't so profuse, and I've heard this expression more than onc e. "Tight-mouthed Schusters". As an example, quite a number of years ago, I wanted to sta rt a genealogy of our families, and Mom said to me, "That's all past history and none of your bu siness." However, during the raising of children, they couldn't help but s ay some things to tell us just how lucky we were in our generation. In o ne case I was told that the older girls worked out as farmer's wife helpe rs at an early age.. Mom by the age eleven. This leaves the conclusion th at they must not have lived in Ellis and gone to their land during the gro wing season. (The older girls received no more schooling after they ca me to America.) Cash money was always a need, and I've been told that Grandpa Ferdinand wo rked on the railroad. One of his jobs was to walk the tracks from Ell is to Riga and back…out down one track and back on the other to see that t here was nothing ... ties loose, loose spikes or loose rail plates. . th at would impede the train's progress. On Sunday's he fudged a bit and t he family would meet him in the buggy at Riga and he would ride back in to Ellis, so they could all attend Mass together. Apparently it was the f amily, not he, that did the farming with horses and lots of manual labor. Theresia once referred to her Father as a complete autocrat. She, by t he time this story was told was married with children of her own, and I mi ght add that my parents weren't terribly strict as parents of some of my f riends. She had begun to work for a family by the name of Waldo in Elli s. Mrs. Waldo had given her a hat, and when they picked up Grandpa Ferdin and at Riga, he saw her wearing the hat, and ordered her out of the bug gy to walk home and get her shawl, because only fast girls went about with out their shawls. I asked Theresia if she did, and she said, "No, Mamma ( Klara) told daddy (Ferdinand) that it was a bigger sin to miss Mass th an to go to church in a hat ... American women already did." By the way, a ll earned money Mom made at her household jobs in Ellis was turned ov er to Grandma Klara. Grandpa Schuster died in 1912. 1 had heard that it was complications of t he flu, but in talking to Uncle Englebert he said, "It could possibly ha ve been cancer of the stomach, or the result of a severe injury. He had w orked placing ties on the railroad, and in the process someone hit him sev erely across the stomach area." In 1912, 1 don't suppose that there was mu ch a doctor did for you, but give you something to dull the pain. Grand ma Klara buried her man, when the youngest child was only nine months old. What stamina these women we know as Grandmas and Great Grandmas had. I 'm sure this came from the Grace of God. I may as well add this thoug ht of my own, since I've had it many times… And the Apostle Paul, notwiths tanding, who said, "At the head of the woman is the man.".. ."She should p ray with her head covered". . ."That she should keep silent in the church. "… "That she should always submit." My thought is this that the older I ge t, it becomes apparent that it was the women our lives... both yours and m ine, that were the true pillars of family. They didn't "rule" with a velv et glove... more like a warm furry mitten. Mamma did not have to rule wi th a spanking or yelling. It required only a certain set of her mou th or an almost discernable shake of her head. It was your Great-Grandmot hers, both Kaiser and Schuster that were the warp that wove the fabr ic of the family, and kept it intact. Although I didn't know my Grandmoth er Anna Mary Kaiser (the stories tell of her strengths), I did know my Gra mma Klara. There is only one answer as to why we flocked around her at ho lidays, that she became such a cause for excitement when she came and stay ed with us for awhile and that answer has to be LOVE, freely and openly gi ven. . you knew it ... you felt it... she never said it. We never h ad to be told to "Kiss Grandma and hug her". We did it naturally --- joyf ully. We hung around her chair watching her crochet, or darn socks, or pat ch overalls. We also learned early that we were not to disturb her when s he held her rosary or read from her German prayer book, because... "Shh h, Grandma is praying." I will insert this bit here, as I don't want to lose it among my note s. In a 1945 census of Furstenthal the name Schuster is no longer listed, though there are a numb er of Baumgartners, Gashlers, Artmanns and Kuffners. In the upheaval during and after the Sec ond World War a large percent of German Bukovinans went to Germany under very trying circu mstances. Most of them that live in Germany settled in the Worthgau and E ast Upper Silesia Areas. The Bukovina of the Hapsburg era (the era in which our people were ther e) has been described as a model for a United Europe. Home of some 12 nat ionalities, none of which were a majority. Bukovina inhabitants exercis ed a mutual toleration for the ethnic and religious differences of their n eighbors. Bukovina, now a part of Rumania, is located on the East Si de of the Carpathion Mountains. From a topical map by Dr. Karl Stum p, it appears that the terrain is the type that would be situated betwe en flatlands and mountains. (I would describe it, as rolling foothills. M aps show that Furstenthal is located bout 50 km south of Czernowity, the c apitol. (Present day name Cervovcy) Present day name for Furstenthal is Vo ivodeasa. These name changes were made when the USSR annexed this territo ry, which now lies behind the Iron Curtain. (See maps in the back of the f amily descriptions in the book. (This is a letter to Rose (Kaiser) Bird's daughter Patricia (Bird) in 198 8. She was interested, thought she might have time for family histor y. ?? established herself in landscaping business and has no time to ma ke inquiries, etc. Doing these things is an ongoing thing. You read, you a sk, you come to dead ends, but has been an absorbing hobby for me.) IN CONCLUSION I have read over the little vignettes about each of my Aunts and Uncles a nd I find a word repeated in each of them ... each has been described as " special", and each one is. Each one has a quality about them that you can 't dump collectively into the description that they are a family of "go od or poor taste", "Interesting or boring," agricultural or craftsman, a nd I have come to this conclusion..... God made each of us special in o ur own way, and each of us should praise Him for the uniqueness that has b een given to each of us. You may pick up a family photo and say, "There's a big 'family' resemblanc e." And while the set of a mouth here, or a similar nose or chin, I thi nk that we find only one real resemblance and that is that each is a Chi ld of God and each one different and special as a snowflake. I've heard it told that you can understand yourself better if you can unde rstand those that have gone before you. Maybe that is true, but I don't re ally think that is the case necessarily. There is only one thing that mak es us truly family and that is the love we share with one another. And so I hope you will enjoy this little booklet, made in love "speciall y" for you, a "special" part of our "special" big family. Mary Conard May 1988
Died	25 Nov 2006	Lewistown, Fergus, Montana, USA
Obituary	Aft 25 Nov 2006
Mary Conard, 78, of Danvers, MT, died Nov 25, 2006, at Benefis Hospital, Great Falls. She was born Sept 13, 1928 to Nicholas and Theresia Kaiser in Collyer. Following her graduation from high school she attended business school in Denver where she met Bob Conard, who was stationed at Fitzsimmons Army Base. They were married on Nov 6, 1950 and made their home on the family ranch north of Danvers. She was a farm wife first and foremost but was also ative in the Danvers Extension Homemakers, National Farmers Organization, Council of Catholic Women, the Danvers Altar Society and a member of St Wenceslaus Catholic Church. Survivors include her husband, Bob; daughters, Bobbi (Andy) Ungerer, Philomath, OR, Barb (Rick) Clark, Lander, WY; son, Don (Lori) Conard, Danvers; grandchildren, Michelle (Mark) Plesko, Emily Ungerer, Jennifer Conard, Matt Conard, Wyatt Conard, Erin (Ken) Wolfley, Anna Clark; and sisters Rose Marie Bird, Salina, and Frances Wagoner, WaKeeney. She was preceded in death by her brothers, Johnny and Fritz. At her request there was no funeral services. A private family gathering will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the charity of one's choice.
Other Info or Events	NAME:Mary Conard BIRTH DATE:13 Sep 1928 BIRTH PLACE:Collyer, Trego County, Kansas, United States of America DEATH DATE:25 Nov 2006 DEATH PLACE:Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana, United States of America HAS BIO?:Y
Person ID	I169158	1FamilyTree \| JaysRelated, JayW_Mom_I101
Last Modified	5 Jun 2017

Father	Kaiser, Nicholas, b. 15 Dec 1893, Blyumenfel'd, , Kransnodarskiy Kray, Russia , d. 20 Jul 1969, Wakeeney, Trego, Kansas, USA (Age 75 years)
Mother	Schuster, Theresia, b. 6 Jun 1894, Furstenthal, Voivodeasa, , Romania , d. 9 Jun 1978, Hoxie, Sheridan, Kansas, USA (Age 84 years)
Family ID	F51498	Group Sheet \| Family Chart